Comparing Dulce Et Decorum Est And The Charge Of The Light Brigade

The theme of war is explored in both ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen and ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Despite this they differ in the way they are written. Wilfred Owen gives a first-hand experience including all of the details which may disturb people. Alfred, Lord Tennyson is an omniscient narrator. This means he was ‘looking over the battle’. Alfred, Lord Tennyson could not include many details as he retrieved the information rather than experiencing it for himself.

The soldiers seem tired and worn. In stanza 1 of ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’, the reader is told, “men marched asleep”, back to a trench or perhaps a camp. The verb ‘marched’ suggests that they are going quickly and in time with each other. We know they are awake but Wilfred Owen uses a metaphor to describe how tired the soldiers are. This makes the reader feel sorry fro them as they have been unable to sleep du to fear, officers or sergeants. This is very different to ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ because during the first stanza of this poem we are given the

Due to Wilfred Owen writing it, we are lead to believe that he saw the man fumbling with his gas mask as the gas rolls over. “As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.” The use of the verb ‘drowning’ creates a sad and dramatic atmosphere as the reader is led to think about a dying man. The technique used is emotive language as it makes the reader sad to think about dying people. Unlike stanza two of ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ when the soldiers learn about a mistake someone has made, “someone had blunder’d.” This mistake puts the cavalry in a difficulf situation because they had ridden into the opposition for no apparent reason. Some people may interpret the mistake in many different ways for example one reader may be angry as it killed many soldiers whereas one reader may be more forgiving of the